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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees shared some clarity on the chest injuries that sent him to injured reserve for the first time in his NFL career on Friday in a conversation with ESPN’s Ed Werder, who reported that detailed medical exams — X-rays, CAT scans, MRI’s, the works — fully mapped out Brees’ injuries, and the news isn’t great.
Brees was diagnosed with 11 broken ribs, 8 on the left side of his chest and 3 on the right. For context, humans only have 24 ribs total, meaning Brees broke nearly half of them.
Additionally, a broken rib on the right side punctured his lung, causing it to collapse. He’s optimistic that he can heal up in time to return from the injured reserve list as soon as he’s eligible (Week 14, for a road game with the Philadelphia Eagles), but it would be unprecedented for a quarterback of his age to bounce back from injuries this severe so soon.
The good news is that Brees is already on the road to recovery, having restored some function to his damaged lung after receiving treatment from doctors throughout the week. But the broken bones will require more time and rest to heal.
Interestingly, Brees told Werder that the ribs on his left side were injured not in last week’s game with the San Francisco 49ers, but a week earlier in the Saints’ blowout road win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He initially tried wearing a flak jacket and playing through the pain, but the following injury sustained against San Francisco was limiting him mechanically. Werder’s report adds that Brees couldn’t throw more than 10 yards as his body began to shut down from the damage.
So he’ll have ample time to recover, so long as he doesn’t try to rush himself back too quickly. The Saints are expected to give backup Taysom Hill the starting nod on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, with Jameis Winston, a 70-game starter formerly of the Bucs, waiting in the wings. With four games against teams with losing records lined up ahead of them, Brees shouldn’t feel pressure to return sooner rather than later — except from himself.
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